His election still undecided, Republican Brian Kemp is proceeding as a victorious candidate and promising to be a governor for all Georgians. That might not be so easy.
Should his narrow lead hold over Democrat Stacey Abrams and ultimately send him to the governor's mansion, Kemp would face lingering questions about how and why he oversaw his own election as secretary of state. His victory would be fueled by an even starker than usual urban-rural divide, with Abrams drawing most of her votes in metro Atlanta and smaller cities, and Kemp running up massive margins in rural and small-town Georgia.
Then there's his embrace of President Donald Trump's coarse rhetoric, from Kemp warning about "illegal votes" to his promise to "round up criminal illegals" in his own pickup truck.
John Chandler, one of Stacey Abrams' attorneys, speaks during a news conference Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, in Atlanta. Republican Brian Kemp resigned Thursday as Georgia's secretary of state, a day after his campaign said he's captured enough votes to become governor despite his rival's refusal to concede. Abrams' campaign immediately responded by refusing to accept Kemp's declaration of victory in the race and demanding that state officials "count every single vote." (Bob AndresAtlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
That all plays into what civil rights leaders and observers from both parties describe as a bitter, race-laden contest that pitted Abrams' bid to become the nation's first black woman governor against Kemp's fierce effort to preserve his overwhelmingly white party's hold on a growing, diversifying Deep South state.
"In the hypothetical scenario that Brian Kemp becomes governor," said NAACP activist and former congressional candidate Francys Johnson, "then he and Donald Trump will have both won because they were able to stoke the deepest darkest fears among their base."
Some Republicans acknowledge the atmosphere even as they defend Kemp from charges he ran a racially and culturally divisive campaign. "Brian Kemp cannot extricate himself from the national political environment that now drives every election down to the county level," said Brian Robinson, a former adviser to outgoing Gov. Nathan Deal. "You run for coroner, you have to say whether you want to 'make America great again.'"
Kemp has pledged to "put Georgians first" — a rhetorical cousin to Trump's "America First." He rejects any notion he could take office under a cloud that would make his job harder.
"It was a tough election," Kemp said as he stood in the governor's office two days after the Nov. 6 election, resigning as secretary of state to focus on a January transfer of power. He cited a "clear and convincing" election — returns showed him with 50.3 percent at the time: "I'm going to serve this whole state and move forward with the plans we have."
Undeterred, Abrams' campaign filed a federal lawsuit Sunday asking a judge to delay the vote certification deadline by one day and make officials count any votes that were wrongly rejected. If successful, the suit would prevent officials from certifying county vote totals until Wednesday and could restore at least 1,095 votes that weren't counted. The campaign said thousands more ballots could be affected.
"Count every vote!" a small group of protesters recently chanted, distrustful after years of struggles between Kemp and voting rights advocates over voter registration rules.
Kemp says he's faithfully enforced state and federal elections laws.
But Nina Durham, a 50-year-old Powder Springs resident said she didn't have confidence in the results. Asked whether she could see Kemp as her governor, Durham, who is African-American, replied, "No. He hasn't represented me as secretary of state."
Unofficial returns show Kemp leading by about 60,000 votes out of more than 3.9 million votes cast. That's enough for a narrow majority, but Abrams asserts that enough uncounted absentee, early and provisional ballots remain to bring Kemp below a majority threshold. That would trigger a Dec. 4 runoff.
The Associated Press has not called the race. The AP will revisit its decision after Tuesday's deadline for Georgia's 159 counties to send certified results to the state.
Neighboring Florida also is caught in a contested governor's race. Democrat Andrew Gillum, trailing Republican Ron DeSantis in unofficial returns, also would make history as his state's first black governor. The Gillum-DeSantis campaign was infused with race, but Florida's electorate — with its racial and ethnic complexities transcending a Deep South history of black-white politics— has grown accustomed to narrowly divided results.
Robinson, the former Deal adviser, noted the razor-thin general elections are mostly new to Georgia. Eight years ago, Deal ran 10 percentage points ahead of his Democratic opponent; the margin was 7 percentage points, but Deal has managed to draw job approval ratings higher than his vote percentages. Trump won Georgia by 5 points in 2016, but barely cleared a majority. Now Kemp stands about at Trump's vote percentage with Abrams on his heels.
"Brian did what he had to do to win," Robinson said. But, "In two years, we will be at parity or a slight Democratic advantage. ... His re-election in a purple state already has to be under way" and "he has to be seen in minority communities, and not just African-American."
Ben Williams, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference leader in suburban Atlanta's Cobb County, said Kemp must acknowledge— if not apologize — for some elements of the campaign. Williams pointed to a photo of Kemp standing with a supporter later identified as a white supremacist. Kemp's campaign distanced itself at the time, noting Kemp agreed to snapshots with anyone who asked at his public rallies.
In the campaign's closing days, Kemp criticized a robocall from an out-of-state white supremacy group impersonating Oprah Winfrey and describing Abrams in racist terms. But he took heat for his campaign's official Twitter account sending out a photo of purported Black Panthers holding Abrams' campaign signs and calling it proof of her radicalism. There was no proof of the affiliation of those pictured, and they were not with Abrams' campaign.
Williams said it adds up to a "blatantly racist" effort, intentional or not.
Kemp and Deal have sidestepped mentions of race. But Deal seemingly gave a nod to the sensitivities when he tapped one of his Cabinet members to succeed Kemp as secretary of state. Robyn Crittenden is the first African-American woman to serve as a statewide constitutional office in Georgia.
Follow Barrow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BillBarrowAP .
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A $12 billion passenger bullet train linking Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area was dubbed the first true high-speed rail line in the nation on Monday, with the private company building it predicting millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028.
“People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in America for decades,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg before taking a stage with union representatives and company officials at the future site of a terminal to be built just south of the Las Vegas Strip. “It’s really happening this time."
Buttigieg cited Biden administration support for the project that he said will bring thousands of union jobs, boost local economies and cut traffic and air pollution.
Brightline West, whose sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in Florida, aims to lay 218 miles (351 kilometers) of new track almost all in the median of Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California. It would link there with a commuter rail connection to downtown Los Angeles. A station also is planned in San Bernardino County’s Victorville area.
Company officials say the goal is to have trains exceeding speeds of 186 mph (300 kph) — comparable to Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains — operating in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
“I believe we’ll look back at today and say, ’This was the birth of an industry of high-speed rail,'” Brightline Holdings founder Wes Edens said Monday.
The company aims to link U.S. cities that are too near each other for air travel to make sense and too far for people to drive.
Las Vegas has no Amtrak service. The idea of a bullet train to Los Angeles dates back decades under various names including DesertXpress. Brightline West acquired the project in 2019, and company and public officials say it has all required right-of-way and environmental approvals, along with labor agreements.
Brightline received Biden administration backing including a $3 billion grant from federal infrastructure funds and recent approval to sell another $2.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds. The company won federal authorization in 2020 to sell $1 billion in similar bonds.
Brightline West says electric-powered trains will cut the four-hour trip across the Mojave Desert to a little more than two hours. It projects 11 million one-way passengers per year, with fares that Edens said will be comparable to airline ticket costs. The trains will offer rest rooms, Wi-Fi, food and beverage sales and the option to check luggage.
Officials hope the train line will relieve congestion on I-15, where drivers often sit in miles of crawling traffic while returning home to Southern California from a Las Vegas weekend. An average of more than 44,000 automobiles per day crossed the California-Nevada state line on I-15 in 2023, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority data.
Florida-based Brightline Holdings' Miami-line debuted in 2018 and expanded service to Orlando International Airport last September with trains reaching speeds up to 125 mph (200 kph). It offers 16 round-trips per day with one-way tickets for the 235-mile (378-kilometer) distance costing about $80.
Other fast trains in the U.S. include Amtrak’s Acela, which can top 150 mph (241 kph) between Boston and Washington, D.C. But fast train connections for other U.S. cities have been floated, including Dallas to Houston; Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago to St. Louis; and Seattle to Portland, Oregon. Most have faced delays.
In California, a proposed 500-mile (805-kilometer) rail line linking Los Angeles and San Francisco was approved by voters in 2008, but has been beset by rising costs and routing disputes. A 2022 business plan by the California High-Speed Rail Authority projected the cost had more than tripled to $105 billion.
The Las Vegas strip is shown behind the groundbreaking sight of a high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
CORRECTS TO SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., speaks at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Kids play in confetti at the groundbreaking ceremony for a high-speed railway on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil) (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
A plane takes off behind a groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., speaks at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., left, and Sen. Jacky Rosend, D-Nev., right, speak at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo leaves the stage at a groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, center, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, right, drive rail spikes into a symbolic rail, on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
FILE - This photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, shows the site of a proposed station for a high-speed rail line to Las Vegas, background, at the end of the Dale Evans Parkway exit from Interstate 15, on the far outskirts of the Mojave Desert city of Victorville, Calif. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
FILE - This photo Jan. 25, 2012, photo shows the site of a proposed station for a high-speed rail line to Las Vegas, foreground, with Interstate 15 in the background, on the far outskirts of Victorville, Calif., the Mojave Desert city on the route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
This Jan. 25, 2012, photo shows the site of a proposed station for the high-speed rail line to Las Vegas at the end of the Dale Evans Parkway exit from Interstate 15, on the far outskirts of the Mojave Desert city of Victorville, Calif. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
FILE - A Brightline train is shown at a station in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Jan. 11, 2018. A fast-tracked plan to build a high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area is set to mark the start of construction. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
